Robert Jenrick
MP for Newark · Reform UK · United Kingdom
“Robert Steele was a beautiful four-year-old boy who died three weeks ago in Newark when he was thrown from an off-road bike that was being driven by a 24-year-old man. This is the culmination of a number of incidents in my town, and many others across the country, involving off-road bikes, e-bikes and e-scooters.”
“The Minister said that Governments are elected to lead. Most people would assume that means that Ministers are elected to lead, because they are accountable to Parliament and to the people.”
“There is an air of total unreality hanging over this debate. Successive Governments have run down our Royal Navy to its present enfeebled state, they have conspired to surrender other British sovereign territory and we have a Government who procrastinate about signing off a new oil field in the North sea—let alone about one in the south A…”
“I welcome the right hon. Gentleman to his position. I have known him for a long time—I wish him well. He has a huge task ahead of him. Earlier in the summer, the Prime Minister said that walking the streets of Makerfield lodged in his mind that so many working people want to see the personal allowance raised.”
“Imagine that you are a worker at JLR worried about your future, and you have the misfortune of watching the Chancellor’s speech, which contains searing economic insights like, “I want to see businesses make a profit.” There was nothing about scrapping electric vehicle mandates, bringing down energy costs by getting rid of net zero targets…”
“The sight of the Government escorting illegal migrants into Portsmouth harbour, the home of the Royal Navy, was a national humiliation. Sometimes I wonder whether Members of this House have no appreciation of the level of anger there is in the country at the rapes, the murders and the billions being wasted that should be being spent on th…”
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“Since 2010, UK labour productivity has grown by 3.9%, leaving it 1.9% above its pre-crisis peak. Slow productivity growth since the crisis is not a phenomenon exclusive to the UK, but is common across the G7. We have created the £37 billion national productivity investment fund to tackle it.”
“No. We are taking a range of interventions, including investing £600 billion in our national economic infrastructure. Over the course of this Parliament, investment in transport and other forms of infrastructure will be £460 million a week in real terms higher than under the previous Labour Government.”
“In the spring statement, my right hon. Friend the Chancellor launched a review of our infrastructure financing, which includes that question on whether the UK would benefit from institutional arrangements. We have also made significant funds available to ensure that there is no shortfall for businesses that rely on the EIB.”
“That has brought fresh life to the market, creating a new generation of entrepreneurs, many of whom I know from my own constituency, a former brewing town, Newark-on-Trent, which has seen several new breweries created in recent years. This has given people across the length and breadth of the country unprecedented choice and, as we have heard, word has spread across the world and exports have risen very significantly.”
“I grew up in the shadow of Banks’s brewery in Wolverhampton and spent my teenage years, like the hon. Member for Oxford East (Anneliese Dodds), working in pubs that my hon. Friend’s constituents might drive out to Staffordshire and Shropshire to visit. I also thank the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent North (Ruth Smeeth) for her contribution; I have had a few drinks near her constituency in the Potteries, not least on the night I lost my first election in 2010. Given the scale of the result I probably should have drunk a pint from the Titanic Brewery. But I do not want to be too negative about what we find today, because there are many great positives about beer and the brewing industry across the United Kingdom, many of which have been heard over the past couple of hours, not least the flowering of the British craft beer industry.”
“I thank the Backbench Business Committee for securing this debate. As numerous Members have noted, it has felt rather like finding a good pub on a long walk when we are feeling weary and looking for a welcome break. The debate has been conducted in a very good-humoured manner throughout. I was first elected at the end of the coalition Government, and pubs was the only vote I believe that that Government lost in all those years, whereas today we are united on this topic but it is just all the other votes we seem to be losing. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Dudley South (Mike Wood) for sponsoring the debate. Like the hon. Member for West Bromwich West (Mr Bailey), he spoke about the Black Country’s long association with beer and brewing.”
“Member for Chesterfield (Toby Perkins) rightly highlighted, they boost the economy, create jobs and, crucially, act as hubs for our communities. We have heard about their importance in tackling loneliness, and about the issues for older people, whether older gentlemen or others. They are great places for people to work and start their careers in. The pub industry currently employs about 450,000 people, many of whom are younger people, as has been said.”
“Her Majesty’s Government charge a reduced duty of 6p a pint on beers with a strength between 1.2% and 2.8%. Until we leave the EU, we cannot raise the threshold for low-alcohol beer above 2.8%, but this is something that we will work on with our partners across Europe, and we could have further flexibility in the years ahead. The Government have taken action in some specific circumstances—with respect to white cider, for example—and our approach is that we will continue to take action as necessary where there is clear evidence that certain alcohol duty rates are causing difficulties for society. We have heard a great deal about pubs, which are, as we heard from numerous colleagues, the bedrock of many rural and urban communities. As the hon.”
“There are certainly few answers that are fiscally neutral and that would create no losers, which would be important to many who work or own businesses in the sector. It is perhaps premature to conduct a review at this moment, because the greatest flexibility will be available to us after we leave the European Union. A future Chancellor might then have the choice to take action. We heard from the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) and my hon. Friend the Member for Faversham and Mid Kent (Helen Whately) about responsible drinking, and they asked whether we could lower the duty on low-alcohol beers. We are somewhat constrained in that respect by EU law. The EU alcohol structures directive sets the maximum threshold for reduced duty on low-alcohol beer at 2.8%.”
“We are also focusing on other alcohol, such as cider and spirits. My hon. Friend the Member for Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock (Bill Grant) talked about the importance of spirits to his constituency and to many others across Scotland. The hon. Member for Aberdeen North (Kirsty Blackman) talked about their importance to the wider Scottish economy. She also asked me a question about post-duty point dilution. We have given this matter considerable thought for some time, and we announced at the Budget that we will be bringing this practice to an end from April 2020. She also asked, as did the hon. Member for Oxford East, about a wider review of alcohol duty more generally. This is a complex area, and there are clearly no easy answers.”
“With respect to beer duty, we have taken a number of steps over the past nine years to improve the situation in a country that has been widely acknowledged to have high levels of alcohol taxation. We removed the beer escalator, and we have either cut or frozen beer duty in six of the last seven fiscal events, so that the duty on a pint is lower now than it was in 2012. In real terms, this long-term and significant action by the Government has kept prices low for everyone, in contrast to the period from 1997 to 2010, during which beer duty increased by 60%. This was underlined at the most recent Budget with another freeze on beer duty, meaning that the price of a typical pint of beer is now 2p lower than if prices had risen with inflation. I appreciate that there is always more that we could do this respect.”
“We have opened the review and had over 500 responses which we will carefully consider and report back on in due course. Our motives at the Treasury have not been to extract more revenue from the sector, and certainly not to end the relief. However, for some of the reasons that the hon. Member for Keighley (John Grogan) and others mentioned, there is some evidence that although the relief has been hugely positive in some respects, it has limited the growth of some businesses that would like to expand and employ more people and that are concerned about the cliff edge that the relief creates. I hope that we will be able to work with breweries and organisations such as the Society of Independent Brewers to work through that and to do something positive for the industry.”
“It certainly is, and I will talk shortly about the relief the hon. Gentleman mentions, which has played a significant part in that flowering and which I believe we can make better and fit for purpose for the future. The value of beer exports has risen now to £500 million a year, and we heard earlier about the tremendous results also with respect to Scotch whisky and other spirits. Small brewer’s relief gives the smallest brewers across the country a 50% reduction in duty and, as we have heard, it has helped fuel the explosion in the number of local breweries; we now have over 2,000 breweries across the country. At the autumn Budget we announced a review of this relief to give brewers the opportunity to share their thoughts on a relief that is now 17 years old and which has not been reviewed systematically over the course of that period.”
“However, we might be able to turn to that should we have sufficient flexibility. I conclude by thanking the Backbench Business Committee and my hon. Friend the Member for Dudley South and the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent North, both of whom gave superb speeches. This debate unified the House and demonstrated the important role that pubs can play in our communities. I will certainly relay the strong feelings from across the House to my right hon. Friend the Chancellor with respect to the next Budget and the future of beer duty. The House’s voice is clear that it wants, like people the length and breadth of the country, further and continued support for beer, breweries and our important pubs.”
“Friend’s, where rateable values are high, but 90% of retailers and between 70% and 85% of pubs across the United Kingdom will benefit, with pubs seeing a tax saving of up to £8,000. We also previously had the £1,000 discount for small and medium-sized pubs, and many pubs will also benefit from up to 100% small business rates relief or the 100% rural rate relief. Of course, all ratepayers are benefiting from the switch from RPI to CPI. The hon. Member for North Tyneside (Mary Glindon) mentioned the request of many, including the industry, to create a rate of beer duty that differentiates between people drinking in a pub and people purchasing beer in a supermarket or convenience store. I can see the strong argument for that, but it is unfortunately not possible under EU law. Duty is levied on production, not on the place of consumption.”
“I agree with everything that my hon. Friend just said. I will talk briefly about business rates in the short amount of time available to me because they have been an important element of this debate. My hon. Friend the Member for St Albans (Mrs Main) brought some of her publicans to see me at the Treasury to discuss the matter. We have taken several actions to support pubs by lowering their tax burden. The most important of them—this comes into effect on 1 April—is the Chancellor’s Budget announcement that the business rates bills of small and medium-sized retailers, including pubs, will be cut by a third. The policy has been set for maximum impact among retailers and pubs with a rateable value of £51,000 or below. I appreciate that that will have less impact in communities such as my hon.”
“The Government are increasing our national investment in infrastructure to the highest sustained level since the 1970s. In Devon, this will include £83 million towards the widening of part of the north Devon link road, and in Cornwall £78 million towards the St Austell link road. Mr Speaker, may I wish Cornish Members gool Peran lowen—a very happy St Piran’s day?”
“We are fully committed to rail resilience in the south-west, and the Chancellor restated this as a national priority in the Budget Red Book. As my hon. Friend has said, we are investing up to £80 million in the new seawall to provide greater protection to the railway at Dawlish. Network Rail is providing the further options he mentions to protect the line from extreme weather and improve the rail network for passengers in the south-west, and of course we will consider those proposals when we receive them.”
“The hon. Gentleman raises an important point. By our decision to hypothecate vehicle excise duty, we have created the largest ever investment in our strategic road network, which could perhaps fund projects such as the one he raises. Additionally, our £2.7 billion transforming cities fund will support Plymouth and its surrounding areas in particular.”
“The stronger towns fund announced this week will provide support for the south-west and all regions of the country, both in terms of direct funding to be paid to local enterprise partnerships and the competitive fund of £600 million that towns in the my hon. Friend’s constituency and those of other right hon. and hon. Members across the country should bid into.”
“I would be happy to meet the hon. Lady. We are investing in port infrastructure, as indeed in other infrastructure projects across the south-west. I believe it was she who asked the Chancellor in the lead-up to the Budget to make that national commitment to Dawlish, for example. We are keen to listen to her opinions in this respect, and I would be very happy to meet her.”
“The Government are committed to ensuring that Medway and, indeed, the whole of Kent have the infrastructure that they need. The South East local enterprise partnership has secured £590 million from three local growth fund rounds, to support around 30 important transport schemes in Kent and Medway.”
“My hon. Friend has been raising this matter assiduously. At the spring statement in 2018, the Government announced that Medway’s housing infrastructure fund bid was shortlisted for the next stage of assessment, and we look forward to receiving the final proposal later this month. It will be considered alongside other HIF bids.”
“The best way to sustainably drive economic growth is to raise productivity, and that is a priority for this Government. We are increasing public investment in economic infrastructure to its highest sustained level in my lifetime. In the autumn Budget, we set out further investments to support business, technical skills and new technologies.”
“My right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary says that she saw some very good leopard-print shoes at Pavers Shoes—and she knows a potential customer for them. Pavers is a highly successful business; I have seen for myself in India the success that it is having in selling shoes. We are committed to increasing transport investment in the north of England; the Secretary of State for Transport recently announced the dualling of the A1237 York outer ring road as a scheme in development for the major road network funding.”
“This Government are absolutely committed to maintaining research and development; that is why we will be investing in it at record levels. We are also supporting the private sector, for example by making research and development tax credits more generous so that businesses across the country can collaborate with universities to drive the economy forward.”
“The Government have been investing in our cities across the country with interventions such as the transforming cities fund—a £2.5 billion investment. We believe it is important to mirror those investments to drive productivity and economic growth in our towns. This week, we have announced a £1.6 billion intervention to support those towns, building on other interventions that we have made throughout the course of the past 12 months, including the future high streets fund.”
“Air passenger duty is a per passenger levy paid by all airlines, so there is no reason to believe that it discriminates against smaller airlines. We have now chosen to freeze APD on short-haul flights for eight years and to take children out of it altogether. The Labour party of course want to hike it with its holiday tax.”
“In conclusion, the instrument is a pragmatic response to the need to ensure service continuity if the UK leaves the EU without a deal. The importance of the provisions is reflected in the announcement of December 2017, which made it very clear to the industry that well in advance of exit day, the Treasury would put forward legislation to deliver these regimes. The legislation is necessary to ensure that contractual obligations can continue to be met, thus avoiding disruption and losses for UK business and consumers. I hope all colleagues will join me in supporting the regulations, which I commend to the Committee.”
“The instrument will allow firms with pre-existing contractual obligations to continue to meet them, providing certainty and fairness to both the providers and users of financial services, and demonstrating that the UK remains open for business and takes legal certainty and business continuity seriously. The Treasury worked closely with the Bank of England, the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority in drafting the instrument. It has also engaged widely across the financial services sector, which has supported the measure and continues to do so. On 17 December, the Treasury published the instrument in draft, along with an explanatory note to maximise transparency to Parliament and the industry.”
“The regimes will cover: first, EEA firms passporting under the Financial Services and Markets Act; secondly, non-UK central counterparties; thirdly, EEA payments and e-money institutions; and, last, trade repositories. The temporary regimes already established go a long way in mitigating risks of disruption and uncertainty. Without these additional wind-down provisions, however, UK businesses and consumers could see some disruption to their contracts or services. The instrument is necessary to minimise that disruption to users and providers in a no-deal scenario. For example, if an EEA insurance provider with customers in the UK does not enter the temporary permissions regime, the instrument will allow the insurer to pay out on a claim to its UK customers where it could otherwise be illegal for it to do so.”
“Once the EEA frameworks providing for passporting rights, recognition of central counterparties and registration of trade repositories fall away, as they would in a no-deal scenario, we need to act to avoid widespread disruption to the provision of financial services, which would clearly be detrimental to UK businesses and consumers. The draft regulations insert provisions into existing temporary regimes to enable the orderly wind-down of contractual obligations or services, and so will provide continuity and certainty for UK customers of those firms that do not enter the temporary regimes, or that exit them without full UK authorisation, as I have said. Specifically, the regulations will establish four distinct run-off regimes relating to four different temporary regimes.”
“The approach taken in the draft regulations aligns with that taken in other statutory instruments laid before Parliament under the European Union (Withdrawal) Act. The regulations deliver on the Treasury’s commitments and are vital to the financial services sector and all UK consumers. Turning to the substance of the regulations, those familiar with EU law will know that it allows EEA firms, non-UK central counterparties and trade repositories to provide regulated services in the UK by virtue of being authorised in another member state, or recognised and registered by the relevant EU authority. In a no-deal scenario, the UK would be outside the EEA and the EU’s legal, supervisory and financial regulatory framework.”
“They also ensure continuity for UK-based customers of financial services providers that do not enter other temporary regimes, or that exit such regimes without having obtained the full UK authorisation, recognition and registration that they would otherwise need to continue carrying out their activities in the UK. Specifically, this draft instrument makes provision for passporting EEA firms, non-UK central counterparties, EEA payment and e-money institutions, and trade repositories to wind down their UK operations in an orderly manner. It will apply to firms and service providers that no longer wish to operate in the UK, and those that exit a temporary regime without permission from the UK authorities to carry on a new business here.”
“The legislation setting out the temporary permissions regime for firms that passport under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 was debated and passed by this House last autumn in the form of the EEA Passport Rights (Amendment, etc., and Transitional Provisions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018. Legislation for other temporary regimes covering non-UK central counterparties, EEA payments and e-money institutions, and trade repositories has similarly been debated and passed by this House. The draft regulations before us deliver on the second commitment that we made: to ensure that those financial services contracts not captured by the temporary permissions regime can continue to be serviced.”
“It has already been debated and approved by the House of Lords. In December 2017, the Treasury announced that we would legislate to establish a temporary permissions regime enabling European economic area firms operating in the UK to continue their activities in the UK for a time-limited period after withdrawal without seeking full UK authorisation. At the same time, it was announced that we would legislate to ensure that contractual obligations not covered by that regime could continue to be met. That will help to protect the interests of UK customers of EEA financial services firms.”
“I beg to move, That the Committee has considered the draft Financial Services Contracts (Transitional and Saving Provision) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019. As members of the Committee who follow Treasury statutory instruments with interest will be aware, we have been undertaking a programme of legislation to ensure that if the UK leaves the European Union without a deal or an implementation period, a functioning legislative and regulatory regime for financial services continues. To deliver that, the Treasury is laying statutory instruments before Parliament under the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. There have already been debates on many such statutory instruments in this place and in the House of Lords. The draft statutory instrument that we are debating is part of that programme.”
“On our ability to extend the duration of the regime, Lord Bates in the House of Lords made clear that to do that, we would submit a written ministerial statement. That followed the expression of similar concerns in the other place in the consideration of the EEA Passport Rights (Amendment, etc., and Transitional Provisions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018. That clarification has satisfied stakeholders. It is not our intention that extensions will happen in perpetuity; the powers are purely to give greater clarity and certainty to the industry that in extreme circumstances there is an ability to extend, and to ensure that there is no detriment to consumers or business.”
“The regulations protect consumers, and enable us to make a fair, unilateral offer to our partners elsewhere in the EEA. Contracts and businesses will not be unregulated during that period. They will not be permitted to carry out new business in the UK. The FCA and the PRA will have additional powers over firms, including the power to move firms into the supervised run-off period, in which they would be subject to the full UK regulatory regime, and the power to cancel their exemption altogether. Consumers will not be exposed during that period. The hon. Gentleman asked for further information on cancellation. The regulators’ powers in respect of a person under the temporary regime are the same as under part 4A of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, so there will be no change to the powers available to the regulator to take action.”
“I am therefore disappointed to hear that any Member would choose to vote against it, because the consequences of doing so would be significant in the event of no deal. The hon. Gentleman asked why there is a contractual run-off period, and whether that would mean that consumers would not be safeguarded—I think that was one of the implications. The period is precisely to ensure that consumers are protected. The example I gave was of a consumer with a long-duration insurance product that lasted for 10 or 15 years. We would want to ensure that the product could be used and the consumer could make a claim if necessary, and that the provider of that service—for example, an EEA insurance company —could not renege on that by virtue of it being illegal.”
“The European Union (Withdrawal) Act does not allow the Treasury to make major changes to policy or legal frameworks, and does not give the Government the power to make changes beyond what is needed to correct deficiencies that will arise solely as a result of exit. That is all we are attempting to do today. The hon. Gentleman asked about scrutiny. As I said in my opening remarks, we published the instrument in draft form on 17 December, along with an explanatory memorandum that sets out how it will operate, maximising transparency to Parliament and the industry. We have had numerous meetings with stakeholders across the financial services sector; they welcome the instrument and believe it is absolutely essential.”
“The regulations have been welcomed by the industry, which has described them as the final piece in the puzzle, and an important piece of legislation that we need to pass to ensure that UK financial services institutions and consumers are protected. By approving the regulations, we are making a fair, unilateral regime available to our friends and partners across the EEA—a regime that will give firms temporary access allow them to run off their businesses in an orderly manner. That is what people would expect us to do. The hon. Member for Bootle asked why we were using secondary rather than primary legislation. We have had that debate on numerous occasions during this process.”
“I am grateful for the opportunity to respond to the questions put by the hon. Members for Bootle, and for City of Chester. I disagree with the hon. Member for City of Chester. Leaving without a deal is clearly not our preference—there are sectors of the economy, including financial services, for which that would be a very difficult situation indeed—but it is not responsible to take no deal off the table at this stage, and to diminish our leverage in the crucial final stages of the negotiations. In fact, it is not possible to take it off the table, because there is the matter of the primary legislation that is already in place. Until such time as the House of Commons passes a law to the contrary, we have to act on the basis that no deal is a potential scenario. Any responsible Government would be taking the steps that we are today.”
“The legislation has precisely the opposite purpose; its purpose is to provide clarity and certainty to industry. Voting against the regulations will do precisely the opposite of what the hon. Gentleman purports to want to achieve. Of course, the way to provide the greatest certainty to consumers, users of financial services, and the 1.1 million people who work in the sector in all parts of the United Kingdom is to vote for the Prime Minister’s deal—or a deal—before exit day and avoid a no-deal Brexit.”
“It is not the view of the industry that this document is not good enough. The industry thinks that this is the final piece in the puzzle; it provides them with the certainty that they require in the event of a no-deal Brexit. There will now be a temporary regime into which financial institutions can pass, should they wish to. If they do not want to do so, or if they do and then ultimately fail to gain the authorisation that they require, the measures before us provide a further safety net to ensure that consumers and those businesses are protected and safeguarded for a period of time as they run off their business in the UK. With that, unless any other right hon. or hon. Members wish to comment, I commend these regulations to the Committee. Question put.”
“In our 2018 autumn Budget, the Government announced our intention to increase the individual donation limit on what a charity can claim through the small donations scheme from £20 to £30, extending support for charities. Some 80% of the organisations that currently participate in the scheme claim well below the £8,000 overall limit that we have set in the past, so we estimate that 20,000 organisations will benefit from greater top-up donations as a result of the draft order. The draft order’s change to the donation limit will benefit the good causes to which the donations have been pledged. I commend it to the Committee.”
“That is why, after listening to those groups, in 2013 the Government introduced the gift aid small donations scheme, which is designed to help charities to receive a gift aid-style top-up payment—a 25% top-up from the Government—on small cash and contactless card donations without a gift aid declaration being signed and submitted. The scheme is not a substitute for the original gift aid scheme; where a donor makes a larger donation or can reasonably be expected to complete a declaration form, gift aid should still be claimed in the usual way. Take-up of the gift aid small donations scheme has increased year on year, although it would be helpful if more charities knew about it, understood it and used it. In 2017-18, 24,000 charities claimed a total of £34 million through the scheme.”
“When eligible taxpayers give a sum of money to charity, it allows the charity to reclaim from Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs the basic rate of tax on the gift. For a charity to claim that tax relief, an eligible donor must sign a gift aid declaration form that confirms his or her consent to the charity’s reclaiming the income tax paid on the donation. Gift aid is now a well established and significant revenue stream for charities: in the 2017-18 tax year, more than £1.26 billion in gift aid relief was paid to charities throughout the United Kingdom. It is not always practical or feasible for a gift aid declaration to accompany charitable donations such as those received by small charities via collection tins on the high street or by churches via the collection plate.”
“I beg to move, That the Committee has considered the draft Small Charitable Donations Act (Amendment) Order 2019. Good morning, Mrs Moon. The Government recognise the important role that charities play in our society and are committed to encouraging greater charitable giving. We therefore continue to provide support to charities and their donors through a broad and generous package of tax reliefs, which in 2017-18 was worth more than £5 billion. The draft order presents an opportunity to enhance the Government’s support further by increasing the individual donation limit on the gift aid small donation scheme from £20 to £30 with effect from 6 April. Gift aid was introduced by Sir John Major as Chancellor nearly 30 years ago.”
“Members could take away from the Committee and encourage smaller charities, local parish churches and other good causes that they visit and encounter to take advantage of the scheme. We did some research with the Charity Commission at the beginning of last year. As a result of that research, we wrote to all the charities in the country that take advantage of gift aid but have not yet, the best of our knowledge, used the gift aid small donations scheme—around 47,000 charities—to publicise the scheme and explain its relative simplicity, and to encourage them to take part in it. I hope that the Committee will wholeheartedly support this good news for our charitable sector. Question put and agreed to.”